Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-04-30


must have come to this country to have your
soul saved.n He said: "That certainly was
the reason.n In that other room, one night
at the close of the service, there sat among
other persons three persons, looking SO
cheerful that | said to- myself 'Ihese
are not anxious inquirers.n | said to the man:
Are you a Christianr He said: II ann
| said: "VVhen did you become ChristianN
He said: Tonight" His wife sat next to
him. | said to her. care you ChristianN
She said: 81 ann said "When did you
become Christianw She said: ITO
night.n / remarked; us this young
lady your daughterg' They said: Eyes.
She said: "Yesp / said: "When did you be-
come a Christian She said: ITO night" !
said to them: "From whence came you!"
They said 1--WE are from Charleston, South
Carolina said: when did you cane:"
They said: eve came yesterday. "How
90 tomorrow. We have never been
here before, and shall never be here
again" 1 have heard from them since.
They are members of the Church of Jesus
Christ, in good and regular standing, eminent
for consistency and piety And so God has
made it soulsaving Church. But I could
tell you of a tragic scene, when once at
the close of the service 1 found man
in one of these front seats, wrought upon
most NIGHTLY said to him: "What IS the
mattern He replied: 81 am captive Of
strong drink; [ came from the West; ]
thought, perhaps you could dome some good
! find you can't do me any good; 1 find there
is no hope for me-" / said: "Come into this
side room and we will talk together" ooh
MOI" he said 'theres no need il my
going in l am lost man !; | have beautiful
wife 7; ! have four beautiful children had
fine profession / have had thorough edu'
cation; had every opportunity man ever
had, but l am a captive of strong drink; God
only knows what / suffer-" said: BE
encouraged; come in here, and we'll talk
together about itn mo" he said, 81
was on the Hudson River Railroad yester-
day. and coming down, | resolved never again
to touch drop of strong drink. While sat
there man came ina low creature-and
sat by me; he had whisley flask, and he
said to me: Will YOU take drink 2 said no;
but oh how wanted it and as | said no, il
seemed that the liquor curled up around the
mouth of the fash and begged: Take me!
take mol take mel felt couldn't resist it,
and yet was determined not to drink, and
rushed out ON the platform of the car, and
l thought | would jump of; we were
an hour, and ] didn't dare to, jump;
the paroxysm of thirst went off, and | am
here tonight l said: Come in, I'll pray
for you, and commend you to God" He
came in trembling. Some of You remember
After the service, we walked out and up the
street. l said: You have an awful
struggle III take you into drug
store: perhaps the doctor can give you some
medicine that will help you in your struggle,
though, after all, you will have to depend
upon the grace of God" said to the doc
tor: "Can you give this man something to
help him in his battle against strong drink
| II cam replied the doctor, and he pre-
Of 4
"There is no alcohol in this-no strong
drinkr' "None at ALL" said the doctor
How long will this Iast?" ! inquired. ut
will last him week" 60" said, "give us
another bottle" We passed out into the
street and stood under the gaslight. It was
| getting late, and said to the man: 81 must
| part with you. Put your trust in the Lord,
and He will see you through. You will make
use of this medicine when the paroxysm Of
! thirst comes on A few weeks passed away.
and got letter from Boston saying: "Dear
| friend, inclose the money You paid for that
medicine. have never used any Of it. The
thirst for strong drink has entirely gone
away from me. I send you two Or
three newspapers to show you what
] have been doing since came to Boston.
opened the newspapers and saw accounts
of meetings of two or three thousand people
to whom this man had been preaching right
eousness, temperance, and judgment to
come. | have heard from him again
and again since. He is faithful now,
and will be, know, faithful to the last Q.
this work of soul savingl Would God that
out of this audience to-day 500 men might
hear the voice of the Son of God bidding
them come to a glorious resurrection
All the offers of the Gospel are extended to
| you, "without money and without price,
and you are conscious of the fact that these
opportunities will soon be gone forever.
| The conductor of railtrain was telling me
Of the fact that he was one night standing
| by his train on side track, his
train having been switched off so that
the express train might dart past unhindered
He said while he stood there in the darkness,
beside his train on the side-track. he heard
the thunder of the express in the distance
Then he saw the flash of the headlight
| The train came with fearful velocity,
bearer and nearer, until after awhile, when it
came very near, by the flash Of the headlight,
he saw that the switchman, either through in
toxication or indifference, had not attended TO
his duty, and that the train, unless something
were done immediately, would rush on the
side track and dash the other train to atoms
He shouted 10 the switchman: "Set up that
switch' and with one stroke the switch
went back, and the express Numbered
on. o, men and women, going ON toward
the eternal world, swift as the years, swift as
the months, swift as the days, swift as the
hours, swift as the minutes, swift as the sec
onds-on what track are you running? To-
ward light or darknessa Toward victory or
lefeatl Toward heaven or hells Set up that
witch Cry aloud TO God Now is the day
Of salvation"